Cladocephalus M.A.Howe, 1905

Holotype species: Cladocephalus scoparius M.Howe

Original publication and holotype designation: Howe, M.A. (1905). Phycological studies - II. New Chlorophyceae, new Rhodophyceae and miscellaneous notes. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 32: 563-586, pls 23-29.

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Description: Thallus erect, to 14 (-30) cm. tall, consisting of a holdfast of matted rhizoids, a stipe ca. 2-7 mm. diam. which sometimes is branched, and a flabellum which is either flattened with additional blades sometimes radiating from the sides, or else is brush- or funnel-shaped. Blade and stalk composed of an inner medulla of dichotomously branched and possibly anastomosing filaments or siphons. Some branches of the medulla become laterally displaced and repeatedly divide dichotomously, producing a cortex consisting of a series of interwoven branches of tapering diameters. Ultimate branches of cortex lack chloroplasts. Siphons contain both chloroplasts and amyloplasts. Cladocephalus shares with Avrainvillea unusual and possibly distinctive ultrastructural features 1) pyrenoids are surrounded by starch plates and encircled by thylakoid lamellae; 2) concentric lamellar system of chloroplasts is simpler than that of at least some other bryopsidalean algae, 3) nuclei are not associated with microbodies and possess macrosegregated nucleoli and associated perinuclear bodies, and 4) cuticle of filament walls is layered. Comparable critical studies are needed for additional genera of the Bryopsidales to access full significance of these features. Reproduction appears to be both vegetative and sexual, but relatively little is known about patterns and structures.

Information contributed by: L. Hillis. The most recent alteration to this page was made on 2011-08-29 by M.D. Guiry.

Taxonomic status: This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.

Comments: Cladocephalus is reported for the tropical western Atlantic and Indian Ocean. At times it is relatively common in mangrove lagoons or other shallows, associated with Avrainvillea or Penicillus. It also has been collected to about -90m

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Contributors
Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera, organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA) and intended to be published in CD format. These AlgaeBase descriptions are now being continually updated, and each current contributor is identified above. The PSA and AlgaeBase warmly acknowledge the generosity of all past and present contributors and particularly the work of Dr Parker.

Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.

Linking to this page: https://www.algaebase.org/search/genus/detail/?genus_id=42539

Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 29 August 2011. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 25 April 2024